BCC slated to launch daytime classes at former Cohannet School in Taunton in January

After an ambitious schedule and insufficient enrollment delayed Bristol Community College’s launch of daytime classes in Taunton this fall, college officials say they are poised to open in January at the former Cohannet School.

After an ambitious schedule and insufficient enrollment delayed Bristol Community College’s launch of daytime classes in Taunton this fall, college officials say they are poised to open in January at the former Cohannet School.

“We expect a high level of enrollment activity once the new year starts,” said Rodney Clark, BCC’s dean for the Taunton and Attleboro satellites.

Though he said enrollment thus far has been “modest,” Clark said BCC is committed to offering 11 daytime classes at Cohannet in the spring semester, which begins in January. The plan is to start of small and gradually expand.

During the spring, he explained, BCC intends to reach out to local high school seniors to promote the daytime classes in Taunton, which are being offered in addition to the existing evening courses at Friedman Middle School.

“Our plan is to really up the ante at end of the spring semester heading into the summer,” Clark said. “We’re really excited about this.“

BCC has more than 9,000 students in programs in Fall River, New Bedford and Attleboro, as well as in evening courses in Taunton. The college has stated making higher education accessible to all of Bristol County as a goal.

Students are allowed to enroll in classes at multiple locations simultaneously, allowing for a myriad of options to accommodate individuals’ life schedules. The addition of day classes in Taunton, Clark hopes, will further expand accessibility.

”We felt it would really help expand the college to draw in different a segment of students,” he said.

The Taunton School Committee voted in June to make space at Cohannet, which also houses the city’s alternative high school, available for BCC. The community college now has offices in the school for admissions, financial aid and academic advising. Workers installed BCC signs outside the building this week.

BCC’s Cohannet satellite coordinator, Meg Hennessey, said the college has a very strong relationship with the Taunton School Department and the alternative high school. The alternative high school, which operates on an evening schedule, has currently made three classrooms available for BCC to use for morning classes.

Taunton Superintendent Julie Hackett discussed the benefits of an alternative high school and a community college sharing a building.

“What is so compelling to me about the partnership between the Taunton Alternative High School and BCC is the message that it sends to our students,” Hackett said. “Instead of giving them the impression that they may not graduate from high school, this partnership signals to them that we believe in them, and they can graduate from college. That is pretty powerful stuff.”

Most of the courses BCC will offer at Cohannet are highly transferable general education courses, which can be applied to nearly all degrees. One exception, however, is a culinary sanitation course.

Page 2 of 2 -
“They wanted to offer something a little different to allow the students to see what’s out there and dip their toe in,” Hennessey said. “There’s been a high interest in that field.

Offering the community college’s New Bedford campus as an example, she added that she hopes BCC’s presence at Cohannet may eventually lead to long-term economic growth in the immediate area.”

“This has been a great start,” she said. “It really has been a positive experience for me, and I think it’s going to be a positive relationship with the community.”